3i 



X 



ORATION 



H<'\. ClIARLKS H. BARFLirrr 



OP MANCHESTKK. N H 



DEDIO^TIOISr 



Soldiers' Mom!a\hnt 



AMHERST, N. H., 



JUNE 19. 1 890. 



MANCIILS i ER 

I'k I N I K I> r. V I i> M N l: . 1 I 



r. 






<, 



IN BXCHAt^CB 



ORATION. 



J/r. President, L<^-f'^'-< "-/ Cnt.'.w.i: 

The historian •>! itus • rnv: uM.;y ^i .i-i.i.ucu 

township, in the opening - >i his opening chapter, 

informs the student of oU; hist'or)' that the town 

of Amherst had its origin in a grant of land made by the 
General Court of Massachusetts to certain citizens of that 
province for servi 'red in the Narragansett war of 

1675-76. This d. . . n alone, without the promptings 
of further suggestion, might naturally prepare our minds 
to look for and expect a marked development of the mar- 
tial spirit in the descendants of such an ancestr>-. reared in 
this atmosphere and ' • their sustenance from this 
soil, which was first a to the approach of civiliza- 

tion by the footfall of the citizen soldier. 

And it would seem to require but little stretch of poetic 
fancy, or oratorical license, to say that the god of war stood 
godfather at the cradle of the little infant democracy, 
ncd upon the western border of that narrow belt of 
sparsely inhabited country, then extending along the Atlan- 
tic coast, and, as if to make the military impression i>erpet- 



iial and ineradicable, conferred upon it, at the baptismal 
font, the name of the most conspicuous military character 
then associated with the colonies, that of the commander- 
in-chief of the British forces of North America, — a name 
which it has borne and honored for more than a century, 
and a name which is never spoken by son or daughter, 
however widely roaming, but with true filial pride and 
affection. 

But however prominent or conspicuous the military ele- 
ment may appear in the inception, it must not be inferred 
or understood that the moral or intellectual welfare of the 
people was overlooked or even subordinated, for we find 
that in the sub-division of this grant, one lot was assigned 
to the first settled minister, one lot to the ministry, and 
one to that great American institution, the common school. 

So far, then, as the art of war entered into the habits of 
the pioneer settlers, it was an art cultivated and practiced 
for defencive purposes only, to give protection in the field 
and security at the fireside against assaults that were never 
tempered with mercy nor conducted by the rules of civil- 
ized warfare, against a foe who recognized no non-combat- 
ants, who respected not defenceless womanhood, the inno- 
cence of childhood, or the helplessness of the couch of 
sickness and pain, a foe who came not with drum beat 
and banners waving, but skulking in ambush, or like a thief 
at night, under cover of its darkness. 

So much of the knowledge of the art of war, so much 
of skill and accomplishment in its practice as would enable 
them to cope with this cunning and relentless foe, was a 
necessity of their existence. Undisturbed and unmolested, 
the busy Kand seized the implements of husbandry and 



5 

plictl ihcm with tireless energy ; but in the presence of peril 
and danger it j;rasped the trusty musket with a courage 
that never fallcretl and a spirit that sought no alternative 
save victory or death. 

It may not be wholly inappropriate before proceeding to 
the consideration of the subject which is more especially 
the theme of the hour, to pause a moment at this milestone 
in the histor)' of this ;^rand old township and conlci; 

and briefly review the Amherst of the past, and espc 

of the early time with reference to the history of this gov- 
ernment and country, for how can I more appropriately 
present to you the men whom we especially honor to day 
than by first presenting to you their ancestry as history has 
photographetl them to us ? To do this intelligently we 
must first of all remember that Amherst was one of the 
first born of the children of the Province and State of New 
Hampshire, that she attaine<l her maximum growth more 
than a ccntur)' ago and contained within her ancient 
borders, at the breaking out of the Revolutionary war, a 
greater population than she boasts today, and that such 
was her relative size and consequence that she ranked 
within five or six of the head of the column in the list of 
the important towns of the State. 

I know, indeed we all know, that the aggressive forces of 
our motlern civilization and the potent agencies of mcKlem 
industries have cut new channels of commerce which have 
left many a once conspicuous social, political, and business 
center far to the right and the left of the new ways that 
now bear the tramp of the great industrial processions of 
the hour. It would be idle to say that this beautiful agri- 
cultural town of Amherst is not upon this list. But it 



may be some consolation to know and to feel that these 
changes have been wrought by forces and agencies over 
which her people could exercise no control, and which they 
were powerless to resist. 

The story of the part taken by the town of Amherst in 
the war of the Revolution, which naturally claims something 
of our thought to-day, is a grand, beautiful, and touching 
story, unsurpassed in history or fiction, legend or song, for 
ardent, lofty patriotism, dauntless courage, and sublime de- 
votion to country and to liberty. None were on the field 
before her, none surpassed her in soldierly achievements. 
Before the opening gun had fired the shot "heard round 
the world," before the fields of Lexington and Concord 
were baptized in immortality, before the clash of arms and 
the shock of battle on the heights of Bunker Hill, before 
any of these had electrified the land, Amherst had lifted 
her hand 'and struck her initial blow for liberty. 

On the memorable night of December i6, 1773, while 
the Dartmouth and her consorts were idly rocking on the 
restless tide in Boston Harbor, the " sons of liberty," few 
in numbers, but daring and resolute in purpose, were si- 
lently and impatiently preparing to open the first act in the 
great drama which was to settle the momentous issue so 
freighted with good or ill to human kind, whether this land 
should henceforth bear the blight and mildew of the tyrant's 
tread or smile and blossom with liberty and become laden 
with the fruits of a marvelous and unparalleled prosperity. 
It was not the ships nor their cargoes that excited such 
terrible resentment, for these were useful, harmless, valua- 
ble, and welcome ; but those cargoes, however harmless or 
valuable, could not pass the custom-house gates, through 



which alone could foreign jjroducts touch our shores, with- 
out the payment of tribute which admitted the rijjht of 
taxation without representation. 

Although an empire powerful on land and sea was behind 
them demanding payment of the tribute, yet that handful 
of brave men were resolved not only to protest against the 
tyrannical exaction, but to hurl oi>en defiance in thcf •■ •• ■>»' 
kingly jxiwer. 

Among those true and daring men, as brave as the brav- 
est, as powerful as the strongest, and second in ardor and 
'tism to none, the only representative from the prov- 

if New Hampshire, so far as authentic history or 

tradition informs us, was Thompson Maxwell of Amherst. 
Later on he fought at Lexington and Concord before en- 
listment, but found an opportunity to enroll himself and 
ve the ap|Kiintment of lieutenant before the next col- 
It wouKl seem to violate all sense of justice on 
occasion when the valor of Amherst's sons is the 
theme of the hour, not to mention the name of Thompson 
Maxwell 

The p.itM"tisiu <>i AtulllI^i m i.ii i.imous era was not 
of the slumbering, dormant order. It needed no drum- 
beat, no bugle blast, no booming gun of war to arouse her 
to action, and no sooner was the war cloud seen to lift its 
sable crest above the eastern horizon than one third of all 
her |>opulation. capable of bearing arms, were on the 
march to Cambridge. Wherever engaged they lost no 
time in searching for beaten paths but always beat down 
new ones that led straight up to the enemy's front. More 
than seventy .\niherst men fought the British foe in the 
r.,.i. ,..,t..,,Kt. ,1 Hunker Hill ; more than half a hundred. 



under the immortal Stark, aided in beating back the invad- 
ers at Bennington, while on other fields, wherever New 
Hampshire troops were engaged, her sons were found in 
force and everywhere distinguished themselves for the 
highest soldierly qualities. 

Her roll of three hundred, who went forth from her hill- 
sides and valleys ready and eager to sacrifice their all for 
liberty and independence, constitutes a galaxy of heroes 
unsurpassed in historic record. Their fame may not be so 
widely celebrated in song and eulogy as the immortal 
three hundred Spartans, who, under Leonidas, disputed 
the pass of Thermopylae against the Persian host on the 
Maliac coast, but their patriotism was no less ardent, their 
courage as unflinching unto death as theirs of ancient re- 
nown. 

I have dwelt thus much at length upon the historical 
features of your town, because as I looked into the record 
and ran my eye over its pages so illumined with grand and 
heroic achievements, it seemed to me that I could not pass 
over in silence this glorious and distinguished past without 
injustice to those to whose memory this column is to-day 
dedicated. 

Glorious, indeed, it is, in the light of their own achieve- 
ments, but from the open page of history, which tells the 
story of ancestral valor, sacrifice, and worth, there comes 
a ray of golden light to encircle and illuminate it with a 
halo of glory, which the mist of a century has not dimmed, 
and the mists of other centuries cannot dissipate. 

When I have said that the noble dead whose memory 
to-day this vast throng is assembled to honor, were the 
descendants of such an ancestry and that they were 



worthy of them, praise, so far as it can be formulated in 
human speech, reaches its climax and eulogy is exhausted. 
More indeed may be said, phrases may be multiplied, but 
nothing; they add. From such an ancestry who but pa- 
triots and heroes could come ? While the spirit of liberty is 
thus transmitted from sire to son, the fires u|>on her altars 
can never become extinguished. 

In the war of the great Rebellion, upon which our 
thoughts arc more jiarticularly centered to-<lay, Amherst 
did her duty, did it unstintingly and well. Those who 
went to the front, and those who bore the new burdens at 
home, proved themselves equal to the trying emergency 
suddenly and most unexpectedly cast U|)on them. I'he 
fifty ihou.sand dollars which flowed through her treasury 
to aid. uphold, and sustain the cause, showed that those 
who went forth to dt» battle were true representative ty|)es 
of those who remained, but holding themselves in readi- 
ness to respond to any call which the exigencie.s of war 
might bring to their dfxirs. 

No sooner was it found that armed resistance lu the 
authority of the government must be met and overcome 
with loyal armies than the citizens of this town assembled 
and resolved, with no dissenting voice, " to pledge their 
lives, fortunes, and sacred honor." to their country's cause, 
and it was at once voted to raise the pay of all her sf)l- 
diers to eighteen dollars per month. Kvery man who en- 
rolletl himself in his countr)''s scr\'ice to fill the quota of 
Amherst, went forth with the consciousne.ss that not only 
the prayers and benedictions of his townsmen would go 
with him wherever the fortunes of war might bear him, 
but that those he might leave behind were in the care and 



10 

keeping of friends who, whatever might befall him, would 
have a loving care and solicitude for them. The fact that 
fifty per cent of all liable to military duty shouldered their 
muskets and went to the field of battle, shows how deeply 
and profoundly this people were moved by the great con- 
flict, and how the martial spirit that so distinguished their 
ancestry had descended without abatement through suc- 
ceeding generations. The Home Guard, which met in the 
spring and summer of 1861 upon this common for drill 
and practice in the manual of arms, was but the re-appear- 
ance in other flesh and bone of the Minute Men who 
learned the same maneuvers on the same spot nearly a 
century before. Thus history repeats itself. Thus in the 
mirror of the present we see the glories of the past. 
True, the issue was not the same. The old question of in- 
dependence or of subordination to another sovereignty 
was settled by those Minute Men and their comrades in 
arms, and settled forever ; but in the progress of our na- 
tional development, dangers within had been evolved no 
less serious than those which our fathers encountered from 
without. 

The assaulted flag, the imperiled national unity, sum- 
moned to their defence the same sterling quality of patri- 
otism, of courage, endurance, and self-sacrifice, which 
gave to the United States of America a place among the 
nations of the earth. The call came as suddenly, as un- 
expectedly, as the lightning's flash from a cloudless sky, 
but the response was ready and there was no parley for 
delay. There was no blanching of cheek, no tremor of 
voice, no faltering of step, no counting of cost. War was 
new, but the high sense of duty was old, and the qualities 



1 1 

(Kinindcd inbred. Every noble attribute of the Amherst 
'75 re-appeared in the Amherst of 1861. 

It would be pleasant indeed to particularize, to repeat 
names and recite personal hislor)' and reminiscence upon 
this occasion, but all the names in Amherst's long roll of 
h«»n<>r cannot be sp<ikcn. and if any are spoken, whose 
can be omitte<I ? The multiplicity of exercises in thr pro- 
^;r.lr^^ ..t the day enforces brevity in this par* ul 

forbids individual- mention. 

To say that this monument is dedicated only to the 
memory of th ' ■ imes arc inscribed u|X)n it, that 
it sjK'aks of ti n only, would un|)ardonably nar- 
row and restrict the full and grand significance of thin 
'l.iy's demonstration. For them it is indeed ; but i 
for all of Amherst's sons who bade adieu to friend and 
kin. -' "- '.» . •>--:.. k„ap. 

s.i. ks II their 

fun" r enemies. loving, respectful trih 

ute and memorial to them all. 

'' ' master has said that monuments and eulogy 

1 ' ' 'I. May we not antici|>ate that other 

h.i .- ;y this memorial work to a more logical 

and natural finish, and when all of Amherst's sons who bore 
their part in the great war which this monument commem- 
orates, have joined the .idvance-guard who have gone be- 
fore, then should they not : ' m its now ' " -•■i\ 
faces other tablets of bron. "ing all the - 
names upon the honored roll, so that in its perl- e 
to the four points of the compass it will unfold the names 
of all alike who dcser\*e the imperishable record .> Into 



12 

the care and keeping of the youth of Amherst, who will 
behold that day, I commit this thought. 

Not one jot or tittle would we abate from the full meas- 
ure of the glory of those who fell and perished in the 
struggle ; yet it is but just to those survivors who passed 
the same ordeal, the same exposure, to say that it takes 
the same soldierly qualities to face death upon the battle- 
field that it does to suffer it. Whether the soldier falls or 
survives is the mere accident of fortune, and we should 
not meet the full requirements of the occasion did we not 
say to the members of the Charles H. Phelps Post of the 
G. A. R., whom a kind Providence has permitted to join 
in these solemn and impressive ceremonies, to all her sons 
who have come from far and near to join in this tribute 
to their fallen comrades, that Amherst remembers to-day 
that you all stood in battle array where those men fell as 
ready to join the ranks of the fallen as to fight on with 
the survivors. 

There was a mingling of philosophy and grim humor in 
the remark of the brave Irish soldier who was stricken to 
•insensibility on the battle-field, but who, on recovering 
consciousness, said to the faithful chaplain who was ten- 
derly bending over him : " Sir, it is hard luck to suffer 
the agonies of death, and then be robbed by a minister of 
the glory of dying in battle." 

We remember the fallen when and where they fell and 
our imaginations canopy the spot with a halo of undying 
glory ; but we are not so apt to remember that those who 
fought by their side courted the track of the deadly missile 
as bravely and as serenely as they whose fate it was to en- 
counter it on its death-dealins: mission. 



13 

It was the good fortune of our New Hampshire troops 
lu Ik- wisely nfficcrci. will led ; so that the essentials of 
succcsstul milil.ir) ti|>ci.au>ns, — wise direction, unquestion- 
ing obedience, and prompt and effective execution, happily 
harmonized in their experiences in the field, and it will 
offend no officer, whatever his rank in the ser\*ice, when I 
say that the officers were no less fortunate in the soldiers 
they had the honor to comman<I 

It is easy to sing the praisi 'nquering hero, to 

canoni/e his name and strew his jxithway with garlands, 
and to herald his coming with plaudits and pttpular ac- 
claim. an<l we are to<j apt to associate all the jjlory of war 
with him wh«> wears the while plume and rides the cajxir- 
isoned charger ; but the sober, solemn work of war is 
done by the brave and hardy soldier who shoulders his 
musket from a sense of duty, fights for the right "as God 
gives him to see the ri;;ht." hi;* ' — ■ ■! seeks only the 
reward which ctmio fmrn the > ^ of duty done. 

More |)articularly was this the case In the war of the 
late Rebellion, where the whole mass of soldiery sprang 
as in a day from c\v\\ and |>eaceful pursuits, with hardly a 
man among them who had been trained in the profession 
of arms or sought the tented field from force of habit or 
(Kcupation. 

In no armies that ever contended for liberty or na- 
tionality in any other part of the globe, did the private 
soldier stand for so much, represent so much, embody 
so much in his individuality, as did the soldiers of the 
loyal armies in that war. In intelligence in personal 
character an« in the attributes of accomplished 

manhood, the wi... world never matchetl him in the annals 



of war. It is easy to see why this was so. The ranks 
were filled from the same sources from which they were 
officered. They came from every profession ; from col- 
leges and seminaries of learning ; from banks, counting 
rooms, shops, mills, farms ; from every intellectual call- 
ing and every branch and line of industry. In the fact 
that he felt himself fit to command, the soldier saw no 
impediment to his serving in the ranks. 

To strike a blow for his country, to strike it effectu- 
ally and well, was his absorbing thought and ambition. 
If he found that opportunity in the ranks, he was content 
and so fought on to the end. Our armies graduated 
soldiers enough at the close of the war, fit to command, 
to officer all the armies on earth and officer them well. 

We find to-day in Congress, in the executive chairs of 
state, in judicial and official stations of every grade, men 
who went into the war with the musket upon the shoulder, 
and laid down the same weapon at its close ; not because 
they did not deserve promotion, not because they were not 
fitted for other duty of an apparently higher grade, but 
because they had found the place where the country 
needed them ; where they could do good work, effective 
work ; and with that they were content. 

A regimental officer, whose command was famed for 
gallant conduct, on being asked to name men from his 
ranks for promotion, proudly responded : " If I should pro- 
mote all of my men who deserve it, I should have a regi- 
ment of officers with not a private in it." 

What wonder that such an army proved itself invincible 
and all-conquering ? What end could come to such a 
struggle save that at Appomattox ? The theorists who said 



that the annals of histor)- furnished no precedent for the 
ion of a rebellion of such ^ij^antic pro|K)rtions, 
' d the fact that no other nation ever had such an 
army for the enforcement of its authority. Never before 
on the face of the earth was there such a concentration of 
hi;^!) intellet' nd inflexible purpose, so marshaled, 

( ' ' itetl, :>.M..inivd by the unityir > •• ' ,,f military 

An army indeetl it was, . „ its battles 
with its feet upt^n the earth ; but it was no less mobilized 
magazines of thought, ideas, and patriotic impulse, sowing 
iixt ' "o an<l (!■ far 

ih.ii -.hmI government can confer upon mankind — germs 
that have burst into blossoms which have ripened into 
fruitage, filling the land with fatness and burdening its 
.itmosplure with the songs of ever)' industry that woos the 
i iinniii^ of human hands. 

It was the fortune of the Amherst men to be connected 
with organizations that saw and felt much of war. Nearly 
h.ilt "t them were in the "Fighting Fifth," and the 
••!?:..:; Tenth," but r< tives of them were in 

cvci) iiiher regiment, excij . . ;\th. up to the Kleventh. 
Among them all there wa.s not one who did not prove him- 
self a soldier worthy of the cause near to his heart and 
worthy of the jKople for whom he stood. That some of 
' ' ' rise throufjh various |)romotions to respon- 
. , . i.^ of command was expected and inevitable, 
and their names will always be honored and conspicuous 
u|x>n New Hampshire's roll of her brave and gallant de- 
fenders. Their living presence here to-day forbids the 
words of compliment which will yet be spoken by more 



eloquent lips than mine when opportunity is fitting, which 
soon enough must come. On this occasion we are also 
exceptionally honored by the presence of the survivors of 
that regiment which contained in its ranks so large a pro- 
portion of the Amherst soldiers, and which was so largely 
recruited from this county. Their most welcome presence 
enhances the interest, broadens and deepens the signifi- 
cance of the occasion, and gives stronger impulse to the 
patriotic ardor and sentiment which it is so well calculated 
to inspire. 

Their presence here as an organization, a quarter of a 
century after their muster out and disbandment, proves 
the oneness of purpose which actuated them, and how 
deep and lasting are the friendships, born of long and close 
association, under circumstances of the greatest peril and 
danger. Such conditions develop the highest and noblest 
qualities of the human soul, and create a brotherhood 
that never loosens its grasp till touched by the cold finger 
that awaits us all. There is no chain which so binds men 
together as that whose links are welded in the white heat 
of battle. 

If anything was wanting to show the perfect amalgama- 
tion of our foreign born with native American citizenship, 
the Tenth furnished it. If anything was wanting to show- 
that in assuming that high duty our foreign born embraced 
the full measure of patriotic sentiment and devotion to the 
fortunes of their adopted country, the Tenth supplied it. 
If anything was lacking to prove that they were ready to 
defend her honor and uphold her authority by every sac- 
rifice, even unto death, with all the ardor, impetuosity, and 
enthusiasm characteristic of their race, the Tenth removed 



»7 

the lingering doubt when she left her dead nearer the 
stone wall on St. Mar>-c's Heights than any other regiment 
!h It foii_^ht on the bloody field of Fredericksburg. 

.Suic !jy side, under the banner of the gallant Tenth, the 
native aniW foreign b<jm gave and receivetl the blows which 
only war can give and take. Side by side they joined in 
the \ictorious shout when fortune .smiled, and side by side 
they strove to retrieve disaster and s<K»the the sting of 
''■•f'- *t : and to-day on many a hillside, in many a valley, 
^hed and furrowed by the dread enginery of war, side 
by side they sleep the sleep of eternal rest. 

To show what place this regiment has in the hearts of 
this fK'ople. I need do no more than point to the fact that 
of the twenty-si.x names already inscribed u|X)n this mon- 
umcnt'§ tablet of bronze, ten of them are copied from the 
rolls of the Tenth. Mustered in with these survivors — 
mustered out by the grim messenger Death, but re-formed 
.nid halting now at " |>arade rest " on the other shore for 
tlie c«»ming of v<tii whosf mnk.s t<» dav show widfr ;'.1I)«^ 
than theirs. 

It will not be expected that I shall detain you by a con- 
sideration of the causes which involved this people in that 
great conflict in which these sur\ivors were engaged, and 
in which the ii"V»I'' 'lend whose memory we seek to honor 
gave up thcr hat their country might live. The 

story has been so often told and the lessons to be drawn 
from it so often repeated and .so recently, on that great 
national day now but just pa.st, and are .so familiar to all 
that nothing can be added, and repetition is unneces.sary. 

We all recognize the fact that as the war of the Revo- 
lution settled the question of national independence, so 



the war of the RebelHon settled the question of national 
unity. The great source of internal dissension, of sec- 
tional animosity, has been forever eradicated. It is no 
longer a "house divided against itself," but with unity of 
purpose and fraternity of feeling, its fast multiplying mil- 
lions are now coursing over the highway of empire, with 
possibilities limited only by the measure of fidelity to true 
citizenship. 

To the cultivation and the development of that citizen- 
ship this work directly and most powerfully tends Monu- 
mental columns, heroic statues, and memorial edifices are 
most striking and impressive patriotic literature, a liter- 
ature that is read by all beholders, learned and unlearned, 
a literature that is common to all nations and all races of 
men. To the American, the German, the Frenchman, to 
all of every race and nationality, though speaking no tongue 
save that of their ancestors, it tells the same story. It 
addresses itself intelligently to every understanding and 
awakens common emotions in every heart in whatever 
clime the eye falls upon it. 

As a book of history it is always open and its pages are 
ever exposed to the gaze of mankind. It never slumbers 
on neglected shelves, and the accumulating dust of years 
never gathers upon it. The busiest son of toil finds ample 
opportunity to peruse it and enrich his understanding by 
the story it impresses upon all, while his soul is ennobled 
by the contemplation of the lofty examples it spreads 
before him. It cannot be monopolized by the rich alone, 
for it is never closed to the poorest and the humblest. It 
is most honorable in its authorship no less than in its com- 
memoration of noble deeds and the perpetuation of names 



"that were not bom to die." This rrmnument which 
rises in your midst, the object of such patriotic veneration 
to all, will not only bear to later times the names of the 
heroic dead indelibly engraved u|>on it, it will not only 
proclaim through brazen lips, sixraking mightily though 
voiceless, the gospel of liberty, of loyalty, and of |)atriot- 
ism to coming generations, but it will ever bear most con- 
'• ive testimony to the generosity and jxitrioiism of its 
iers. It will tell not only that those men gave up 
their lives for their country and its institutions, but it will 
declare also that you for whom this supreme sacrifice was 
made were worthy of it. 

And when all ♦' •■ '- • i in its erection are 

folded upon the { n all who out of their 

substance contribute shall have struck their 

tents and passc<: |) and down the face of the 

■ one whu bnn: hii> part in the war of the great 

U. it shall remain among the living, this beautiful 

work will still stand and tell to other generations the stor)' 
of ancestral glory and achievement, and inspire in other 
hearts the same heroic courage and lofty patriotism it so 
grandly celebrates. 



LIBRW^ OF COSS 



TeS" "997" 57 • 



( 



( oMmrfltton RcMurcc* 
l.lf-Kre«* T\p*I 

»4. a C RiifT*rMl 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



illllliliil 
013 997 257 ^ 



